Ice freezing apparatus



A ril 22, 1941. a. F. KUBAUGH ICE FREEZING APPARATUS Filed April 12, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 gvwmwbo Xubau 12 April 22, 1941. B. F. KUBAUGH 2,239,234

ICE FREEZING APPARATUS Filed April 12, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 39 40 as 40 E 35 ab I 42 4 34 1 Q 42 9 CD 25 ,9 a2 IO 1 W E J? K211752171] April 22, 1941., a. F. KUBAUGH ICE FREEZING APPARATUS Filed April 12, 1939 5 SheetsSheet 3 A ril 22, 1941. a. F. KUBAUGH ICE FREEZING APPARATUS Filed April 12, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 A ril 22, 1941. a. F. KUBAUGH 2,239,234

ICE FREEZING APPARATUS Filed April 12, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 meme Apr. 22,1941 2 239 3 UNITED-STATES. PATENT OFFICE ICE FREEZING APPARATUS Benjamin F. Kubaugh, Louisville, Ky., assignor to Henry Volt Machine Co. Inc., Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Application April 12, 1939, Serial No. 267,469

' 13 Claims. ,(Cl. 62-164) This invention relates .to ice making apparatus Figure 1 1s a side elevation, partly in section.

of the general type disclosed in my copending of a battery of freezing units incorporating the application Ser. No. 207,128, filed May 10, 1938, features of the invention;

and which comprises a battery of freezers, each Figure 2 isa plan view; I

' consisting of an upright bundle of spaced tubes Figure 3' is. an elevation taken in a plane perwithin an evaporator tank, the evaporating tanks p ndicular to that of Figure forming an element of a refrigeration system. Figure 4 is a detail in elevation showin h within which tubes rods of iceare frozen, and accumulator, the liquid float control therefor and from which they are discharged by gravity 101- the liquidand vapor equalizing connections;

.lowing a thawing operation, the freezers operat- Figure 5 is a vertical diametrical section ing in a determined order of rotation whereby through one of the fr n ni-ts, on an'enlarged one discharges while the others are freezing, it l the intermediate portion bein broken being within the concept of the invention to have away;

- the number of freezers in the battery so numer- Figure 6 is a perspective view of the rotary ous that the time interval between the successive cutter; I v

- discharge periods is so small that the delivery of Figure '7 is a fragmentary vertical elevation ice may be described as practically continuous. showing the cutter with one of the ice rods in The invention described and claimed in said position being cut; co-pending application is characterized by the Figure 8 is a perspective view of a rotary switch introduction of refrigerant under pressure in the for controlling the solenoid valves involved in hot gaseous stage at the termination of the freezthe automatic operation f e system i l din ing period in each evaporator, for displacing the the valvesin the suction line to each evaporator, liquid refrigerant from one evaporator to anthe ice water supply valves to each unit, the other, and for thawing the ice rods from the invalves controlling the hot gas employed in evaev terior surfaces of the tubes in which they are uating the evaporators, the valves controlling the formed liquid evacuation pipes and the valves control- The presen invention has for its specific obling. the admission of thawing water to each of jects, the provision in refrigerating apparatus the units; and g of the type described of automatic control of the Figure 9 is a general diagrammatic view showseveral operations involved in the freezing, thawing the essentials of the system, and with paring and discharging of the units of ice. ticular reference to the valves controlled by the Another object of the invention is the provirotary switch, 3

sion of means for controlling the pressure of the Referring now in detail to the several figures,

hot gaseous refrigerant which evacuates the rethe ref-erencecharacters l, 2, 3 and 4 represent friger-ant from the evaporator, thereby controlthe individual freezingunits in a battery of four ling the thawing temperature in each of the units. imits- At this p t t y be stated t at the Another object of the invention is to provide invention contemplates no specific number of on the main suction line for all of the units, a units, but the larger number of units,the more back pressure valve which servesthe purpose of nearly continuous will be the delivery of ice. maintaining a uniform and predetermined pres- In general, it may be said that the freezing period sure, and therefore controls the freezing temfor each unit is twenty-seven minutes, while the perature of th u it thawing and d scharge of ice from a unit requires Still another object of the invention relates to a little more or less'than a minute. With four on of a cutter for severing the ice rods units in a battery, as shown, there will be delivhe rovisi is t l ey emerge from the units, sizing them to cry of ice about every seven and a half minutes. a predetermned length With a battery of ten units, there will be an ice other objects of th invention'willappear as, delivery every three minutes. The units may be the f llowing description. of a preferred and pracconsidered identical, one being shown in detail tical embodiment thereof proceeds. v so in Figure 5 c p e a Shell p e ably cy n- In the drawings which accompany'and form a drical, having upper and lower ends or tube part of the following specification, and throughsheets 6 and I. The shell 5, together with the ut the several figures of which the same chartube sheets, forms a closed chamber or evapoacters of reference have been employed to desrater ll, all.four of which evaporators are conignate identicm ts; nected in multiple into a closed refrigeration I underlying tank 32.

system, which as shown in Figure 9,'may include the compressor 8, suction line I, with branches I communicating with the individual evaporators, the condensers II. the liquid refrigerant accumulator or receiver I2, the latter having branches l3 communicating with the evaporator: I4. Level of liquid in the several evaporators and in the accumulator I2 is controlled by liquid level control apparatus of conventional type, shown in Figure 4, designated by the reference character l5, and including the liquid and vapor equalizing pipes I8 and II, respectively.

A bundle of tubes, each of which is designated by the reference character I8, is positioned in an upright manner within the shell I, the upper and lower ends of said tubes opening through the respective tube sheets. The upper end of the shell 5 extends into the water box I9. The upi per ends of the tubes 5 are provided with metallic or porcelain ferrules 20, which project above the tube sheets 6 and have a central water inlet 2 I. They are provided within the tubes with radial water outlets 22 which discharge water upon a deflector 23, the periphery of which lies close to the interior wall of the tube I 8, so that the water from the outlets 22 is distributed between the deflector 23 and tube in a thin fllm against the wall of the tube I8. Thus the conditions for quick freezing are met. Care is taken that the disposition of all of the ferrules are in a horizontal plane. The water box I9 is preferably formed with an annular trough 24, into which the ice water supply pipe 25 dips. This causes the ice water to be distributed uniformly all around the water box before inundating the tube sheet 6 and entering the ferrules 20. This ensures uniform freezing in all of the tubes I8. The ice water traverses the length of the tubes I8, flowing through holes 26 in the underlying shear plate 21, and discharging upon the inclined plates 28 shown in Figure 3 which lead down to ice water troughs 30. The central conveyor trough 24' is for ice, as will presently appear. The ice water goes through the screens 29 into the lateral, inclined troughs 30, from which it discharges at the point 3| in Figure 1 into an From this tank the ice water is picked up by a pump 33 and carried back I -to the ice water header 34, from which it again discharges into the water box I9 by way of the pipes 25 in those of the units which are in the freeezing phase of the refrigeration cycle. The ice water distributing pipes are controlled by the preferably solenoid operated valves 6|.

It will be understood that the ice water herein referred to is not precooled at the starting of the apparatus, but becomes chilled by successive passages through the tubes I8. That part of the ice water which remains on the surface of the tubes in the freezing of the ice rods is replenished from the water main 35 controlled by the float valve 36 in the tank 32. It is to be understood that the rods will ordinarily not be permitted to freeze solid but will preferably always have a hole extending longitudinally throughout their length, through which the ice water continues to flow up to the time for discharging the ice rods. Since there is no frozen core, this assures that the ice rod shall be transparent throughout, and it also avoids the necessity for any change in the volume of ice water as the freezing proceeds. Only enough water is supplied to the tubes to cause a thin film to traverse the inner surfaces of the tubes during the initial part of the freezing period, and as the ice freezer at a point'above the level of the liquid re-.

frigerant. With this end in view, the branch pipes II are connected to the high side of the compressor betweenthe compressor and the condenser by a manifold 31 and branches 3!. Suitable valves 38 which in the present ement of the invention are indicated as being solenoid operated valves,

an evacuating pipe 4| extending from a point near the bottom of one municating with the top ofanother evaporator. Valves 42, preferably solenoid operated, control the evacuating pipes, said valves being open when the hot compressedgas valves 40 are open, and Being closed when the suction valves 38 are Den.

In operation, when the freezin rio evaporator terminates, for examil thi; ag

evaporator and comevaporator, at the end of which time the hot gas valve closes. The hot gas warms the tubes I8 and thaws the ice from adherence with the surfacte'of said tubes.

I will be observed in Figure 5 that rovi i is made for thawing the ice rods at the extrzi g lower ends of the tubes I8, which ends of said tubes are remote from the direct influence of the heated gaseous refrigerant within the evaporator. ends of the tubes is accomplished as follows. Inside the cutter casing 43 is the fixed shear plate 21 welded thereto, and carrying ferrules H welded thereto and surrounding the lower extending ends of the tubes I8 with a small clearance space therebetween. An annular partition 44' surrounds all of the ferrules 44, being spaced from the cutter casing to form an annular thawing water distributing chamber. This partition is perforated heightand contacting tube head 1. The thawing water gravitates downwardly,

water in the tank 32.

When the ice rods have been freed from the tubes l8 both by the hot gaseous refrigerant mingling with the ice within the evaporator and by the thawing water,

in the lower extending ends of the'tubes, the ice rods drop by gravity upon the helically inclined plate 46 of the cutter. This, as shown in Figure 6, comprises a rotary member having an outer cylindrical peripheral portion 41 and an inner central hub portion 48. The helical plate 46 surrounds the hub 48, dropping from a high to a low level, and leaving a slot 49 between its edges, which slot is wider than the diameter of the ice rod.

All of the ice rods in a freezer will drop practically at one time, because they are simultaneously thawed. They will land upon the underlying helical plate 46, some in a high position near the upper edge of said plate, and some in a low The cutter is positively driven by means of the motor 56, shown in Figure l, and suitable connecting shafting, and is preferably driven at a reduced speed relative to that of the motor, reducing mechanism being shown at As the cutter rotates, the ice rods descend progressively to the lower level of the helical plate 46. When they reach the lower edge 52 of said plate they are about to be cut off or sized. Just as the helical plate 46 is moving from under the ice rods resting adjacent the edge 52, the upper edge 53 of said helical plate jams the ice rods against the edge of the hole 26 in the shear plate, breaking the ice rods off at a definite height equal to the distance between the horizontal planes which embrace the lower and upper edges 52 and 53 of the helical plate 46. Since at the moment of breakage the bottoms of the ice rods are unsupported, being over the slot- 49, there is no danger of the sized units of the ice rods clogging or collecting in the cutter, but they must inevitably fall upon the inclined plates 28 and down the partition and the cutter valves and the ice into the conveyor trough 24. It will be understood that when the discharge of ice rods takes place, there will probably be some ice water runing down through the ice rods or around them, and some thawing water, so that the ice will be in wet condition. As they pass over the screens 29 the accompanying water will be drained from the ice units, the water passing down the inclined troughs 36 and draining into the tank 32 at the point 3| in the manner that has already been described. The ice units in the trough 24 find themselves entrained in the helices of a conveyor 55, by means of whichthey are propelled toward the storehouse 56. The conveyor 55 extends some distance into the storehouse, so that the ice units will be kept in motion in the conveyor' trough while being subjected to the lower temperature within the storehouse, sufficiently to congeal the moisture on the surface of the ice units so that they will not stick together, that is to say, pack, when finally discharging into said storehouse; That portion 51 of the conveyor trough which enters the storehouse inclines downwardly toward the tank 32 so that there will be no risk of water being discharged into the storehouse. Any water traveling back upon this inclined part of the conveyor finds its way'through the screen 68 into the tank 32.

The operation of the system is made automatic by the control of the several sets of solenoid operated valves which have been hereinbefore mentioned. For instance, the suction valves 38 and the ice water valves 6| are open durin the entire freezing period in all of the evaporators which are simultaneously engaged in freezing, that is,in all but the one evaporator which i The other three is discharging its ice contents. sets of solenoid operating valves, namely, the

hot compressed gas admitting valves, the liquidrefrigerant evacuating valves and the thawing water valves are closed during seconds which it requires to thaw the ice rods from the tube surfaces, to thaw the lower ends of the tubes which extend beyond the lower tube sheet, and to discharge the refrigerant from the evaporator which is ready to discharge, into an adjoining evaporator. The control of these valves may be accomplished by a rotary switch, such as that shown in Figure 8, in which rotary discs 62 and 63 may have conductive segments grounded to the shaft 64, said discs being wiped by the contacts 65 and 66. There is a pair of discs 62 and 63 and a pair of cooperating contacts for each evaporator. The disc 62 has a small conductive segment 61 adapted to control the simultaneous opening of the hot gas, evacuating and thawing water valves which are open for only a short period. The disc 63 has an extensive conductive segment 68, which controls the suction water distributing valves which are, open during the relatively long period of freezing. The small and large conductive segments of the respective discs 62 and 63 are arranged in' opposite phase, so that the sets of valves controlled by one will be closed while the sets of valves controlled by the other are open. v The pair of switch tern are the pressure reducing valves 69 on the hot compressed gas line which serves to control the evacuating pressure and thereby the thawing temperature in each evaporator, also the back pressure valve 16 on the main suction line 9, which serves the purpose of maintaining a uniform and predetermined pressure and therefore, a uniform freezing temperature in the units.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood to thoseskilled in the art that the details of construction and arrangement of parts as shown and described may be varied to suit the exigencies of use without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is: u

1. In ice making apparatus, a refrigeration system including an-evaporator in the form of a tank having ice freezing tubes passing therethrough in a direction to discharge their contents gravitationally, said evaporator having connections with the liquid and suction limbs of said system, means for circulating through said tubes the water to be frozen into ice columns therein, means for displacing liquidrefrigerant from said the entire freezing period, and are opened only during the few evaporator at the end of the freezing period by admitting hot gaseous refrigerant under pressure to said evaporator, the heat of which thaws the ice columns from the walls of said tubes, ice cutting mechanism mounted beneath said movable transversely thereof into the path of which the ice columns gravitate when detached from said ice tubes, the lower ends of said tubes extending beyond said evaporator in proximity to said cutting mechanism and out of the thawing zone of the hot gaseous refrigerant, means for applying thawing water to said tube ends, valves controlling the suction orator, the supply of water thereto for ice making, the admission of the hot gaseous refrigerant, and the flow of tha water, and valve operating means for opening both the ice water supply controlling valve and the suction valve and at the same time closing both-the hot gaseous refrigerant admitting valve and the thawing water controlling valve or closing both the ice water supply controlling valve and the suction valve and at the same time opening the hot gaseous refrigerant valve and the thawing water controlling valve.

2. In ice making apparatus, a refrigeration system including a battery of evaporators arranged in multiple, each being in the form of a tank having a bundle of ice freezing tubes passing therethrough in a direction to discharge their contents gravitationally, each evaporator having connections with the liquid and suction limbs of said system, means for circulating through said tubes the water to be frozen into ice columnstherein, said evaporators working successively in a determined order in which all but one of the evaporators are in the freezing .phase while the remaining one is in the thawing and discharging phase, means for displacing liquid refrigerant from one of said evaporators and delivering it to the one which has just completed its discharging phase, by admitting hot gaseous refrigerant under pressure to said one evaporator, the heat of which thaws the ice columns from the walls of the tubes of said one evaporator, ice cutting mechanism mounted beneath each evaporator into the path of which the ice columns gravitate when detached from said ice tubes by thawing, the lower ends of said tubes extending beyond said evaporator in proximity to said cutting mechanism and out of the thawing zone of the hot gaseous refrigerant, means connected to said evaporators for applying thawing water to said tube ends, a set of valves controlling the suction connections of said evaporators, a set of valves controlling the supply of water for ice making thereto, a set of valves controlling the admission of hot gaseous refrigerant to said evaporators, a set of evacuating valves in the liquid refrigerant connections between said evaporators, and a set of valves controlling the supply of thawing water to said evaporators, and valve operating means for simultaneously opening the suction and ice water supplying valves of each evaporator for starting the freezing phase and maintaining them open during the freezing period, and for opening said hot gaseous refrigerant admitting valve, the thawing water valve and the evacuating valve in that evaporator which has completed its freezing period, and maintaining them open for a short thawing period, said means simultaneously closing the valves which are open during the freezing period and opening the valves which are concerned with the thawg. An ice making apparatus of the type claimed connection of said evap-" 4. An ice making apparatus of the type claimed in claim 2, in which the several sets of valves therein mentioned are of the solenoid type and the means for ing and discharging 5. In ice making apparatus, a refrigeration system including an evaporator in the form of a tank having ice freezing tubes passing thereerant under pressure to said evaporator, the heat of which thaws the ice columns from the walls of plate and cooperating which the ice columns gravitate when detached from said ice tubes and are cut 01! by the cooperation between said cutting mechanism and the lower edges of the apertures in said shear plate, suction connection of said evaporator, a valve controlling the flow of ice water to said water box, a valve controlling the admission of hot gaseous refrigerant to said evaporator, a valve controlling the flow of thawing water to said chamber, and valve operating means for simultaneously opening said suction and ice water supplying valves at the period and maintaining them open during the freezing period, and for openingv said hot gaseous refrigerant admitting valve, andsaid thawing water valve upon the completion of the freezing period, said means simultaneously closing the valves which are open during the freezing period beginning of the freezing plane whereby from said ice tubes, the lower and. opening the valves directly controlling the thawing functions.

6. An ice making apparatus of the type claimed in claim 5, including ferrules at the upper ends of said tubes within said water box projecting above the bottom of said water box and having their upper ends terminating in a common horizontal plane, said ferrules each having a central intake bore and lateral outlet bores within the tube which it terminates and being formed to distribute a thin film of water against the interior surface of said tube. i

7. An ice making apparatus of the type claimed in claim 5, said thawing water chamber being provided with a peripheral annular baiile defining an encompassing distributing channel into which the thawing water is delivered, said shear plate being formed with annular ferrules surrounding the apertures in said shear plate and telescoping over the lower ends of said tubes, with clearance, said ferrules terminating in a common horizontal the thawing water simultaneously overflows said ferrules and comes into contact with the ends of said tubes.

8. An ice making apparatusof the type claimed in claim 5, wherein said ice cutting mechanism comprises a driven shaft with a spiral plate disposed thereabout, terminating in substantially parallel vertical planes, spaced apart a distance somewhat wider than the cross-sectional width of an ice column, forming upper and lower edges the difference in level of which edges determines the length of the pieces into which the ice is cut, and upon which plate the ice rods gravitate when discharged from said freezing tubes, and whereby through rotation of said plate they are progressively lowered, the upper edge of said plate cooperating with the lower edges of the passages in said shear plate for effecting the outtmg of the ice into sized pieces.

a 9. In ice making apparatus, a refrigeration system including a battery of evaporators each having the form of a tank having a bundle of ice freezing tubes passing therethrough in a direction to discharge their contents gravitationally, said evaporators being connected with the liquid and suction limbs of said system, means for circulating through said tubes the water to be frozen into ice columns therein, said ice water circulating means comprising a water box on each of said evaporators into the bottom of which the upper ends of said tubes open, a tank beneath said battery of evaporators into which the ice water discharges from said tubes, a pump having an intake in said tank for picking up the discharged ice water and returning it to said water boxes, liquid refrigerant connections from one evaporator to another, means for displacing liquid refrigerant from each evaporator at the freezing period by admitting hot pressure to said evaporator from the hot gas line of said system, the heat of which thaws the ice columns from the walls of said tubes, ice cutting mechanism mounted beneath-said tubes into the path of which the ice columns gravitate when detached ends ofsaid tubes said connection tapping extending beyond said evaporators in proximity to said ice cutting mechanism and out of the thawing zone of the hot gaseous refrigerant, means for applying thawing water to said tube ends, the evaporators of said battery being arranged in a determined order whereby all but one of said evaporators are simultaneously in various phases of the freezing period while the one remaining evaporator is in its thawing and discharging phase, liquid refrigerant conduits serially connecting said evaporators, a set of valves controlling the suction connections of said'evaporators, a set of valves controlling the flow of ice water to the water boxes of said evaporators, a set of valves controlling the liquid refrigerant transfer conduits, controlling the admission of hot gaseous refrigerant to said evaporators, and a set of valves controlling the flow of thawing water, and valve operating means for simultaneously opening the suction and ice water supplying valves of each evaporator for starting the freezing phase and maintaining them open during the freezing period, and for opening said hot gaseous refrigerant admitting valve, the thawing water supply valve, and the evacuating valve of that evaporator which has completed its freezing period, and the valve in the liquid refrigerant transfer conduits between that evaporator and the one next serially connected, and maintaining said valves open for a short thawing period, said means functioning to close the valves which are open during the freezing period and to open the valves which are directly concerned with the thawing functions.

making apparatus of the type claimed in claim 2, including a connection from which the hot gaseous refrigerant is derived, the refrigeration system at a point where the refrigerant is in its hot gaseous phase and communicating with the evaporators.

11. An ice making apparatus of the type claimed in claim 2, including a. connection, from which the hot gaseous refrigerant is derived, said connection tapping the refrigeration system at a point where the refrigerant is in its hot gaseous phase, and communicating with said evaporaters, and a pressure reducing valve in said connection for controlling the evacuating pressure of said gas, and consequently controllin the thawing temperature of each of the evaporators.

12. An ice making apparatus of the type claimed in claim 2, including a back pressure limb to said evaporators for maintaining uniform and, predetermined pressure in said evaporators and thereby determining the freezing temperature in said evaporators.

13. An ice making apparatus of the type set forth in claim 5, wherein the tank projects upwardly through the bottom of said water box forming a peripheral distributing channel below the level of the upper ends of said tubes into which the ice water supplying means discharges.

BENJAMIN F. K'UBAUGH.

a set of valves 

